The Run Down
In terms of rankings, 2008 was so low because they gave up some top chips to rent CC Sabathia for a couple of months. What’s impressive though, is how they rebounded within a year to jump eleven spots. Honestly, this article was one of the more challenging to write for how many lower level prospects the Brewers have stocked piled. Everyone knows of the Alcides Escobar sleeper post; 2010 shortstop rankings; and Top 300 overall rankings – 186) and Mat Gamel has been mentioned more than enough. Thus, I will withhold comments and analysis about those two players unless asked in the comments. Further, there are several players who are in the low(er) minors that deserve mentioning, but due to space will get a shout out. For example, Wily Peralta (ranked #22), a reliever this past year, had the following rates, 10.2 K/9, 4 BB/9 in 103 IP at Class-A ball. Eric Arnett is one of the Brewers top prospects (just drafted this year) but just finished rookie ball. Cody Scarpetta (ranked #15) has tremendous upside, yet is just finished Class-A.

In short, their farm system is heavy down in the low(er) minors. Most of this talent is going to be moving up another level. I will be mentioning more names in “Honorable Mentions” due to the fact that many won’t see the majors until a couple of years down the road.

Players of Interest 2010Hitters#3 Brett Lawrie | 2B | A | 19 | .274/.348/.454 | 372 AB | 36 XBH | 13 HR | .180 ISO | 19/11 SB/CS | 70:41 K:BB | .308 BABIP | 43.8 GB% | 15.6 LD% | 40.6 FB%
The only question about Lawrie from scouts, farm directors and analysts is “What position should he play?” Drafted as a catcher, suggested to play third or right field, the Brewers placed him at second. Lawrie is the top power hitting prospect for the Brew Crew, even more than Mat Gamel. At the end of the season he was given a call up to Double-A where he struggled, slashing .269/.283/.308 in 52 AB Given his age and small sample size, this brief appearance shouldn’t worry anyone. His stick is solid, with 30 homer potential, he should also hit for decent average (.275 to .290) as he has a good eye at the plate, but does become pull conscious which can cause prolonged slumps. Nevertheless, Lawrie is on the fast track to the majors. As we all know, with Rickie Weeks often injured, this could be sooner rather than later. Still don’t hope for anything more than a September call-up this year or, more likely, a June call-up in 2011.

#5 Angel Salome | C | AAA | 24 | .286/.334/.412 | 283 AB | 22 XBH | 6 HR | .127 ISO | 55:23 K:BB | .328 BABIP | 48 GB% | 23.8 LD% | 28.2 FB%
Prior to the 2009 season, Salome was considered the Brewers catcher of the future. However, after a rather disappointing season – league average OPS and an injury – Lucroy has leapfrogged him on the depth chart. Salome has a plus arm from behind the plate, gap power, strong plate discipline, and hits for decent average. His career slash line is .316/364/.483 and this was his first “poor” year. He may be destined for a backup role in the majors. The skills – good plate discipline, good average and gap power – are in place where he could have value in deep leagues, or two-catcher leagues, in 2011 if he has a starting job. With Lucroy on his heels, the signings of Gregg Zaun and George Kottaras, it seems like the Brewers have given him the finger and told Lucroy to improve upon his great year.

#10 Jonathan Lucroy | C | AA | 23 | .267/.380/.418 | 419 AB | 43 XBH | 9 HR | .150 ISO | 66:79 K:BB | .294 BABIP | 36.7 GB% | 17.3 LD% | 45.6 FB%
Speaking of Lucroy … Although his power was a disappointment this past year (had 20 homers in 2008), his plate discipline and control of the strike zone was impressive as were the 32 doubles. The GB, LD and FB rates correspond well to developing and continuing power trends towards high teen power potential. His arm isn’t as strong as Salome but his defense is better overall (fewer passed balls and errors). Lucroy will need to repeat last year’s overall production to continue as the catcher of the future. One thing to note, his OPS has decreased at each level/promotion besides rookie ball to Class-A (R: .871; A: .897; A+: .846; AA: .800). His ETA is no sooner than a September call-up and a 25 man roster spot in 2011.

Pitchers#12 Zach Braddock | LHP | A+/AA | 21 | 13.8 K/9 | 1.6 BB/9 | 40 1/3 IP | 1.79 ERA | 2.18 FIP | .87 WHIP | .9 HR/9 | 6.2 H/9 | .300 BABIP | 36.3 GB% | 13.2 LD% | 47.3 FB%
The positive: his walk rates were greatly reduced from his career norms. The negatives: he was pushed to the bullpen, his mechanics predict more injuries in the future, and he’s already had Tommy John surgery to go along with elbow and shoulder problems. Braddock’s fastball is gunned between 90 and 94 mph with decent movement, a hard, biting slider and a decent changeup. However, as a reliever, he is able to use his fastball-slider combo effectively against lefties (.174 average). He was also able to reduce his walk rates from nearly 5 BB/9 in the past to 1.6 BB/9 in 2009. This could be due to a small sample size, or the fact that his new role better suits his talent. If he stays a reliever, his ETA is much higher than as a starter. Nothing to wage a bidding war over, but Braddock could supply a MR. B with some cheap ratios or holds in the future.

Josh Butler | RHP | R/A+/AA/AAA | 24 | 7.3 K/9 | 3.3 BB/9 | 118 1/3 IP | 2.97 ERA | 3.60 FIP | 1.30 WHIP | .3 HR/9 | 8.4 H/9 | .317 BABIP | 45.8 GB% | 25 LD% | 18.8 FB%
Not a ranked prospect by Baseball America in 2009 due to a poor 2008 season. However, after recovering from a few nagging injuries in 2008, Butler pitched well in 2009. He spent most of his time predominately at High-A and Double-A (44 IP at A+ and 50 IP at AA). Although his groundball rate isn’t very high, his GO/AO is 1.9, which is pretty spectacular. Having a 90 to 95 mph sinking fastball is why this rate is so high. Also, he throws a “solid” curve and slider. He projects as a number four starter (upside) or bullpen depth. If he starts the year off well and the Brewers have an injury or two in their rotation — *cough Dave Bush/Jeff Suppan cough* — he could be called upon for a spot start or two. Let’s all forget his terrible Arizona Fall League performance and blame this due to fatigue after a long season.

#4 Jeremy Jeffress | RHP | A+/AA | 21 | 10.4 K/9 | 8.2 BB/9 | 60 1/3 IP | 4.62 ERA | 4.59 FIP | 1.61 WHIP | .4 HR/9 | 6.3 H/9 | .282 BABIP | 55.5 GB% | 8.5 LD% | 24.4 FB%I am obligated to place Jeffress on this list as he has tremendous amounts of talent but probably won’t make an impact in 2010. However, his high prospect ranking (#4 for the Brewers and #100 overall) and notoriety keep him in the first list.
Having already been suspended twice for an illegal substance (i.e. marijuana), Jeffress is squandering an arm that can easily hit 98 to 100 mph on the radar gun. If Jeffress gets another violation, whether PED’s or drugs, the hits he’ll see will be only from his blunt. Yes, that’s right, he’ll be kicked out of the league after his next violation. Nevertheless, unless he can start to control his pitches (fastball and potential plus-curve) his future in the majors will stall out before then. He threw 33 IP at High-A and 27 IP at Double-A. While at Double-A his rates were as follows; 11.2 K/9 and 10.9 BB/9. His future is definitely in doubt, especially with April twentieth just around the corner.

Rob Wooten | RHP | A+/AA | 23 | 12.2 K/9 | 3.5 BB/9 | 57 1/3 IP | 2.67 ERA | 3.44 FIP | 1.20 WHIP | .5 HR/9 | 7.4 H/9 | .333 BABIP | 41.6 FB% | 13 LD% | 41.6 FB%
Not the most talented guy out there. John Sickels called him a “junk baller” and Baseball America doesn’t even rank him. Wooten may be a lot like Mitch Stetter, gets by on pitching brilliance but is only a reliever at best. Nothing special here, but if injuries in the bullpen becomes an issue, Wooten may get his chance if he pitches well at Triple-A next year.

#14 Caleb Gindl | RF | A+ | 20 | .277/.363/.459 | 394 AB | 35 XBH | 17 HR | .182 ISO | 18/4 SB/CS | 92:57 K:BB | .329 BABIP | 40.8 GB% | 15.9 LD% | 43 FB%
The men over at The Hardball Times believe Gindl is the Brewers third best prospect going into 2010, behind Alcides Escobar and Brett Lawrie (Mat Gamel has graduated their list). Scouts don’t like his “unathletic” body and his “poor speed,” however, all his numbers (like Total Zone) point towards him playing average right field with an average to above-aveage arm. Baseball America compares his body to Brian Giles. Take that with a grain of salt as current perceptions of Giles don’t elicit greatness or optimism. He may strikeout a lot (274 times in 1109 AB) but he walks at a decent rate (140 walks in 1109 AB) showing pretty good judgment of the strike zone. Not great, but sufficient. His upside is 20 homers with 20 steals. However, the steals are a product of reading the pitchers and not high end speed. His upside could be a Shin-Soo Choo circa 2009. Still a year or two away from the majors.

Caleb Thielbar | LHP | R | 22 | 9.2 K/9 | 1.5 BB/9 | 47 IP | 1.53 ERA | 2.84 FIP | 1.11 WHIP | .2 HR/9 | 8.4 H/9 | .319 BABIP | 50.3 GB% | 13.1 LD% | 29.7 FB%
As with every Brewers review I’ll do, there will have to be a shout out to my former teammate in high school. Back in August, I wrote a Scouting the Unknown mentioning his drafting by the Brewers in the introduction. I don’t have any specs on his pitches currently. It is important to note that he should be moved up to Low-A and or High-A next year and start down the same path as Amaury Rivas or even Braddock without the injuries. You can never have enough lefties in your farm system. I wish all the best for this small town prospect.

We have a separate Minor League draft in my league. We added a clause two years ago to prevent the guy with the #1 pick from taking Kosuke Fukudome (I know, I know, but at the time he looked like a lock to at least be a regular player). That clause says that a player must have Minor League experience (like one AB or IP) to be selected. Maybe you can guess where this is going, but Strasburg is about to be selected first overall, and that owner is objecting. We meant for the rule to include players drafted in the Amateur draft, but we didn’t spell it out in writing.

My question: does the Arizona Fall League count as minor league experience?

@peter: Me too! Whatever happened to that 35 homer a year hyped player?

@zk: @smokey: Officially, those stats aren’t credited towards a player’s minor league contributions. Strictly meaning players like Strasburg, Dustin Ackley, Donavan Tate, Zach Wheeler can’t be drafted based upon your requirements either. Same can be said for Aroldis Chapman. I believe Tate was injured and wasn’t playing in the AFL.

Conversly, the Arizona Fall League Eligibility Rules states that, “No players with more than one year of credited Major League service as of August 31 are eligible, except a team may select one player picked in the most recently concluded Major League Rule 5 Draft. ” Also, these players that you are looking at drafting are oftentimes placed on the 40 man roster, they aren’t major leaguers until they are placed on the 25-man roster. Thus, there is an argument that could be waged for the support of drafting these players.

Smokey’s argument doesn’t quite qualify for one could state that Caribbean Winter league has stats tracked by MLB too. His statement on the other hand, which stated that the, “AFL does not count as minor league experience, officially,” is completely correct.

I am not sure why the owner that has the first pick would object to drafting Strasburg. If you want these players to be eligible for your draft, the best argument for support would be the “spirit of the law” premise. Your intentions where for all MLB Rule-4 Amateur Drafted players, however, this wasn’t explicitly stated.

In fairness, you may have to remove these players (one’s who haven’t played in an actual regulation minor league game) from the pool of draft eligible players and place them on the wavier wire after the draft. In that case, the team with the lowest waiver claim made out like bandits. This scenario is nasty too.

You’re going to want to augment your clause for next year, but this year, honestly, this can go both way. I would say that you should stick to your clause, but I am always very legal in my ways of interpreting rules. Subsequently, there should be many players that are undrafted that have high upside. If I was in your league, I would prefer for these players to be eligible for the draft though.